JP Rahmat Raja claimed more than £23,000 pension credits after failing to disclose he had £92,000 stashed in 10 bank accounts.

The Department For Work And Pensions found the former Labour councillor’s scam began in 2003, two years before he was awarded the MBE for services to his home town.

John Abbott, prosecuting, said Raja pocketed handouts for 10 years on the basis that he and his wife had little or no capital or other income.

Raja, from Pendle, Lancs, admitted failing to disclose information to make a gain and dishonestly making a false statement to obtain a benefit.

“I’m very sorry that this has happened”

Rahmat Raja

But he walked free from Preston Magistrates’ Court with a 24-week jail sentence suspended for a year after the court heard he was in poor health and had paid back all the money. He was ordered to pay £85 costs and a £75 victim surcharge.

Raja, 75, emigrated from Gujurat, Pakistan, to the UK in 1966 and worked as a labourer before he was appointed as a JP at Burnley Magistrates’ Court and elected a councillor for Pendle.

Raja – who had to be guided out of court on a crutch and still receives a pension and disability living allowance because of back problems from a work accident – said: “I’m very sorry that this has happened.”